Grooming-machine.



No. 858,919. PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

J. K. STEWART.

GROOMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 190B;

- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

J. K. STEWART. GROOMING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

#[Zzi 666635 JO HN K. STEWART, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GROOMING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2', 1907.

Application filed February 26, 1906. Serial No. 802,862.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN K. STEWART, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements inGrooming-Machines, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved app'arat'us foroperating a hand-directed powerdriven grooming tool of any description,as, for example, a clipper or brush.

It consists of the features of construction set out in I the claims.

In the drawingsz-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the' entire apparatuscomprising my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of thesame, section being made at the line 2-2 on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectionaxial with respect to both the shafts of the device. Fig. 4 is a sectionat the line 4-4 on Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section at the, line 5-5 on Fig.2. Fig. -6 is a detail section of the fan at the line 6-6 on Fig. 3.

In the structure shown in the drawings the grooming tool or brush, A,'is connected by a jointed or flexible shaft and casing, B, B Bflofwhich the casing of the first element, B, constitutes a gibbetarmextending 0H horizontally from the case of the power-transmittingmechanism. The construction of the flexible shaft is familiar andneednot be particularlydescribed. The case of the power-transmittingmechanism comprises a hanger, C, preferably adapted to be mounted uponthe ceiling of the stable or room in which the device is to be used,having'journaled in it the vertical shaft, D,

fast on which is a pulley, E,' at the upper end next to the upperbearing of the shaft. Below the fast pulley,

E, on this shaft there is a loose pulley, E, and below' the loose pulleythere is a second loose pulley, E having a sleeved hub, C which extendsinto a gear hanger, F, formed as a part of the plate, F which closesthehanger, C, at the lower side. The shaft, D, extends through said sleevedhub, C and out through a bearing-hub or sleeve, F, at the centerandlower side of the gear hanger, F. Said sleeved hub, C of the pulley,E carries rigid with it within the gear hanger a bevel-gear, H; and theshaft, D, which extends on through the hanger and out through the lowerbearing, f, has rigid with it a bevel-gear, H ,facing the bevel gear, H,at a sufiicient distance therefrom to admit between them a bevel-gear,J, intermeshing with both H and H. The gear, J, has itsshaft extendingout through a sleeve or bearing boss, K, of a gear housing, K, in whichsleeve 01 boss the inner end of the initial element, B, of the flexibleshaft casing is journaled and longitudinally stopped. This gear housing,K, is a cylindrical case substantially closed circumferentially and atthe bottom, except as to the opening through the sleeve, K abovementioned and lower side. The gear housing, K, encompasses the gearhanger, and with intervening ball bearings, L, at its upper end seatsagainst the under side of the plate, F, of the gear hanger. Astop-collar, N, screwed onto the projecting lower end f 2 of thebearing, hub or sleeve, F, of the gear hanger, F retains the gearhousing, K, on thegear hanger, ball bearings, P, being preferablyinterposed between the collar and the opposeddownwardly facing end ofthe hub or boss of the gear hous ing. The gear hanger, F, is cut awayatone side for about 180 degrees to afford a path for the hub or shaftof the bevel-gear, J, in the oscillating movement which the gearhousing, K, is adapted to have about the axis of the shaft, D. On thelower end of said shaft, D, there is carried a fan, R, open at top andbottom so that the rotation of'the fan draws or drives the air axiallythrough it for the purpose of blowing the dust raised in the groomingprocess down from the animal and the operator and also for cooling bothanimal and operator. I

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the belt, S,when operating on the pulley, E, will rotate the gear, J, and its shaft,J, in the opposite direction from that in which said shaft and gear willbe rotated when the belt, still traveling in the same direction, isshifted onto the pulley, E The belt is thus shifted from one pulley tothe other by means ofabelt shifter, T, which is a loop or elongated eyeencompassabout the axis of the shaft, D, on the base of the pulleyhanger in a seat provided for it between a flange, a, at

the bottom of the hanger and the margin of the plate,

F, which forms the top of the gear hanger. (See Fig. 3.) Suitable stops,t, t limit the throw or angular movement of the belt-shifter-carryingsegment, T. It is the intention of the structure that the direction ofrotation of the flexible shaft and of the grooming tool deriving motionfrom the shaft, J, of the final gear, J, of the train, shall be reversedas the operator passes from one side of the animal, so that the brush orother tool employed in grooming may, without special attention on thepart of the operator, receive the right direction of rotation to producethe proper effecteither with or against the hair of the animal, asdesired according to the process being performed,the direction ofrotation being for this purpose necessarily opposite when operating atopposite sides of the animal. The oscillation of the gear housing aboutthe axis of the shaft, D, which occurs without attention on the part ofthe operator ashe carries the grooming tool connected with the shaft, J,around from one side to the other of the animal, is made to operate thebelt shifter to pass it from one of the driving pulleys to the other soas to reverse the direction of rotation of the flexible shaft while theoperator is passing from one side to the other of the animal at therear. projects up from the upper side of the sleeve, K, overhung by thesegment slide, T, so as to encounter at proper points in the path ofoscillation in the opposite directions, two downwardly projecting stoplugs, t W, with which the segment slide is provided for that purpose.

It will be understood that the fan carried by the shaft, D, will haveits direction of rotation reversed when the belt is shifted from onepulley to the other. In order that, notwithstanding this reverseddirection of rotation, the fan may continue to blow down upon the animalfor the purpose for which the fan is provided, it is constructed withits vanes, 10, p, hung pivotally between the inner and outer rings, 1?,P adapted to swing from a position inclined, say from 30 to 40 degreesfrom horizontal in one direction, to a position similarly inclined inthe other direction, stops, p on the outer ring, P, or at any otherconvenient point be; ing provided to limit the range of such swingingmovement. In order that this reversion of position may occurautomatically the vanes are pivoted a little above the middle line oftheir width, so that a larger area is exposed to the resistance of theair below than above such pivotal line, thus causing the vane to swingto one limit of the inclination permitted when the fan revolves in onedirection, and to the other limit when the fan revolves in the oppositedirection. It will be obvious that the direction of movement of the airthrough the fan being governed by the direction of the inclination ofthe vanes relatively to the direction of rotation, will be from the sidenear to which the vanes are pivoted toward the opposite side, and itwill be obvious, therefore, in what manner the construction should bechanged to cause the fan to blow upward instead of downward.

I claim:-

1. In a grooming machine, a pair of driving pulleys and a driving beltadapted to be shifted from one to the other; a reversing gear trainwhose final gear and its shaft derive reverse rotation from the twopulleys respectively; an oscillating bearing for said shaft; a beltshifter for shifting the belt from one to the other of the pulleys, andmeans by This is effected by means of a lug, which which the oscillationof said bearing operates the belt shifter.

2. Ina grooming machine, in combination, a pair of driving pulleys faston conaxiai shafts; a loose pulley mounted between them; a reversinggear train whose final wheel and its shaft derive opposite rotation fromthe two eonaxiai shafts respectively; a bearing for the shaft of saidfinal wheel mounted for oscillation about the conaxial shafts; a beltshifter for shifting the belt from one fast pulley to the other over theother intermediate loose pulley, and means by which the oscillation ofsaid hearing operates the belt shifter.

3. A grooming machine comprising a pair of driving pulleys and a drivingbelt adapted to be shifted from one to the other; a reversing gear trainwhose. final gear and shaft derive reverse rotation fromthe two pulleysrespectively ;a housing which incloses said gear train mounted foroscillation about the axis of the pulleys; a bearing in said housing forthe shaft of said final gear; a belt shifter and means on the housingfor operating the shifter by the oscillation of the housing.

4. In a grooming machine in combination, a pair of driving pulleys faston concentric shafts; a reversing gear train whose final gear and shaftderive reverse rotation from the two shafts respectively; a fan mountedon one of the shafts; a driving belt and means for shifting it from onepulley to the other, the fan having its vanes pivoted at a longitudinalline one side of the middle of the width of the vane and stops forlimiting the tilting movement of the vanes about their pivots at twopositions oppositely inclined to the plane of rotation.

5. In a grooming machine, in combination with a shaft for operating agrooming tool a train for driving it adapted to rotate it in oppositedirections; means for reversing the train; a shaft in the train whosedirection is reversed When that of the tool-operating shaft is reversed;a fan on said shaft having its vanes pivoted each at a lon gitu dinalline at one side of the middle of the width of the vane, and stops onthe fan frame or case for limiting the oscillation of the vanes abouttheir pivots at two positions oppositely inclined to the plane ofrotation of the fan.

6. In a grooming machine, in combination with a grooming tool and a fanand a train in and by which they are both rotated; means for reversingthe direction of rotation of the train, the fan having its vanes pivotedeach at a longitudinal line at one side of the middle of the width ofthe vane and free to swing about their pivotal mounting, and stops onthe fan frame or case for limiting the oscillation of the vanes abouttheir pivots at two positions oppositely inclined to the plane ofrotation of the fan.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence oftwo witnesses, at Chicago, Illinois, this 23d day of February, 1906.

JOHN K. STEWART.

- In the presence of- CHAS. S. BURTON, M. GERTRUDE An

